Wednesday

A Somerville man was sentenced Wednesday to 8 to 12 years behind bars for raping and assaulting female residents at the Cambridge homeless shelter where he worked.

A Somerville man was sentenced Wednesday to 8 to 12 years behind bars for raping and assaulting female residents at the Cambridge homeless shelter where he worked.

A Middlesex Superior Court jury last Friday found Manfred Elangwe, of Somerville, guilty of rape, assault and battery, and annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex. In addition to the prison sentence, Elangwe received 10 years probation.

“This state prison sentence holds the defendant accountable for the serious nature of his crimes against two victims,” District Attorney Gerry Leone said in a statement. “We once again thank the victims for their courage in reporting these assaults and for their perseverance throughout this process.”

According to the DA’s office, Elangwe raped a resident of the Hildebrand Family Shelter in Cambridge — where he worked as the shelter’s housing manager — on July 25, 2004. Prosecutors said Elangwe forced himself on the victim, whose age and identity was not released, as she was watching television, slamming her head against a window and forcibly holding her down against her will.

“A sexual predator is behind bars,” Leone said. “These women sought refuge and solace in a homeless shelter, only to have the defendant take advantage of his position of authority to rape one victim and assault another in front of her young children.”

Calls to the Hildebrand Family Shelter were not returned.

Elangwe was also convicted of assaulting a second woman at the shelter in front of her children.

After the rape, prosecutors said Elangwe told the victim that he knew the system and that no one would believe her because she was homeless. He continued to harass women in the shelter after the rape, according to prosecutors.

Cambridge Police, the Department of Transitional Assistance and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Officeinvestigated claims filed by the victim and brought Elangwe before a grand jury. He was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury on May 2, 2005, and arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on July 28, 2005.

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